SDG&E provides $1M in leadership awards

San Diego Gas & Electric plans to give $1 million to nonprofit organizations that provide leadership training, mentoring, college preparation and educational programs that serve needy K-12 students in San Diego County.

Nonprofit organizations have until March 25 to apply for grants that target underserved students. Among the types of programs the company is looking to fund are those that focus on character development, college and workforce preparation and science, technology, engineering and math skills.

The company will award grants of up to $25,000 for individual organizations and up to $50,000 for collaborative projects. It expects to make awards in April.

This is the third year SDG&E has run the program, which was renamed Inspiring Future Leaders this year to more clearly illustrate its goals. About 60 organizations were funded last year.

Through the grant-making, the company’s goal is to have “a meaningful impact on the community by promoting responsible leadership and the development of youth leaders who will be the decision makers of tomorrow,” Scott Drury, SDG&E’s vice president of human resources, diversity and inclusion, said in a statement. “Partnering with nonprofit organizations that are engaging the minds of the next generation of diverse leaders is extremely important as we prepare San Diego for the future.”

Nonprofit organizations interested in learning about the program can go online to sdge.com/community.

Company spokeswoman Allison Zaragoza said the charitable giving campaign had been called Excellence in Civic Leadership previously but was rebranded.

“We wanted something that really would resonate,” she said. “We wanted them to know it was more than civic leadership.”

Zaragoza said the program is designed to support kids who will become “the decision makers of tomorrow.”